With Mystics and Magicians in Tibet, translated from the French original version Mystiques et Magiciens du Tibet , is a travel account of Tibetan religion and mystical practices written by Alexandra David-Néel. It is an account of David-Néel's experiences during her journey in the Himalayas, living among religious Buddhist authorities, monks, and mystics. The author gathered stories of her encounter with, mainly Buddhist, religious masters and entities while traveling in the region of India, Sikkim, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Japan, and particularly Tibet. The book was firstly published in 1929 in France and was later translated into different languages including English. The English translation was first published in 1931. The book contains an introduction written by Jaques-Arsène D'Arsonval.
Background
In the early twentieth century the representation of Inner Asia, especially Tibet, was floating between different perspectives. The colonialist perspective which dominated the discourse about Tibet during the nineteenth century represented the Himalayas' territories and populations as savage and only concerned with mysticism. The colonialists shared this image of Tibet in order to promulgate the ideals of Western superiority. The other dominant perspective of the early twentieth century was distancing from the colonialist's one, proposing a new understanding of Tibet. Concerning the cultural and religious matters this new conception of Tibet proposed a rediscovery of this country under a spiritual and appreciative lens. Tibet became in Western eyes an object of fantasies and a place of ancient and great spirituality. This interest in Tibetan spirituality was mainly caused by the shared feeling of decadence in the post-World War I European modern society. A symbol of the growing spiritual interest in Europe was the birth of the Theosophical Society. The engagement in the occult of this society, led it to frame Tibet as a land intrinsic to ancient wisdom. David-Néel's book shared this vision by proposing a positive, exotic, and spiritual image of Tibet, which went beyond the classic colonialist assertion of superiority and rivalry.
Alexandra David-Néel was a great admirer of Oriental cultures and mysticism, as she herself was a Buddhist. She studied Oriental cultures at the University of Sorbonne and in 1892 she completed her studies at the Theosophical Society and took part in other esoteric communities, such as the Freemason. It is in these societies that she developed her interest in the occult and Oriental spirituality. David-Néel's interest in Oriental religion and culture was strongly connected with her political and societal beliefs. She was highly involved in anarchist and feminist movements and she often wrote articles about Oriental sages and philosophers. David-Néel was particularly interested in Buddhism because she saw in this religion the solution to the oppressive women's condition in Western society. She conceived Buddhism as the end to all hierarchies and the end to the illusion of the Catholic God. Her interest in Buddhism and the desire to escape modern society brought Alexandra to embark on a fourteen years journey in the Himalayas. This travel ended up being the source of her literary production. Fundamental to David-Néel's travel was her husband, Philippe Néel, who sponsored her. In the preface of the book, David-Néel explained that she wrote the book after the great number of requests that followed the publication of her first book, My Journey to Lhasa (1929). The requests were coming from both Orientalist scholars and the public. She was asked to write a book describing her insight into Tibetan religions and spiritual practices since the previous book was not so specific about it.